| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
See movies. Read stuff. Go running. Swim. Write something else. Specific to RPGs, play a while instead?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Do both of the above actually.
Take a break and immerse yourself in movies, TV, and literature. That is the fastest way to snap out of this funk.
Part of it is learning to master your own creative process.
There are a lot of books on the creative process, but this one is targeted directly at GM's.
I also steal liberally. You don't have to be a creative genius. Other people have already done tons of heavy lifting on ideas, you just need to find the ones that work for you and adapt them. Just today I was thumbing through the free rpg day release from Lamentations of the Flame Princess. It's a fairly dark adventure and I might steal from it more wholesale, but I just jotted down notes on some cool color pieces that I can insert into my game.
I co-DM, so my conspirator and I try to write everything down so we have it down for both of us. We make lists of things that COULD happen, or half-formed ideas of scenes to toss into the game. If something comes up where it would fit, we've got stuff we've already worked on together and can insert into the game quickly.
It happens to everyone, KA. Another factor is that if you are distracted for whatever reason, you aren't going to feel immersed in it. Try all you can to play with a clear mind.
If you don't have someone else to GM, try board games like Arkham Horror. Do a little of both Read the Amber books and buy Amber the Diceless RPG.
Try playing some mindless shooter games if you are into that kind of thing. (Get Diablo III for your computer)
Once you've had a bit of a break and immersion in media, I'd suggest getting outside your comfort zone. Play new and different games. If your prodominantly a Pathfinder player, go play some indie game for a while.
Fate, Dread, Dogs in the vineyard, don't rest your head, or a really viscous game of houses of the blooded.
If you normally play fantasy, play science fiction instead.
If you normally play low key call of cthulhu, go with awesome wuxia action.
Horror gamer? Try a game of high romance.
Like comedy? Try tragedy.
Like big dumb fun most of the time? Go as arty and pretentious as you possibly can
Do something different for a while.
I wanna play in a viscous game too...
|
I've begun to feel this a bit too.
Taking a break from the routine is the most surefire way to fix it, I don't think anything else will do it.
I don't think anything else works. The more different, the better. It's like when you go to work everyday for months and then take a holiday for a week. You recharge.
I don't know if this works with your group, but try a Round Robin. Even if another player is not particularly good, it gives you a chance to see the other side. Make sure they tough it out because of your vacation lasting some time.
One thing I enjoy when I need to recharge is to spend some time browsing the deviant art site pictures for inspiration. There is such a huge amount of fantastic works there that I often can get ideas from just an hour or 2 of random snooping. Just a suggestion.
I wanna play in a viscous game too...
Sorry, I meant vicious.
Part of me feels like I'm letting down myself and my players. But I know that's just guilt talking.
There may be some board games you could pick-up and still have time/fun with your gaming group. Good old gaming cards work too, even the silly card games we played as teenagers, and the somewhat more advanced ones our aunts and uncles tried to show us.
Basically, time off RPG doesn't necessarily mean time spent alone.
Alternatively, try a completely different RPG, ideally one that isn't hard to learn and that has significantly different themes than your usual. Make it a short adventure with no promise of continuation to your players.
Perhaps ask one of the other players to GM a game for you and the group.
At any case, telling your fellow gamers is the way to go so they don't feel left out.
good luck,
'findel
To add to the TV and literature escapes; take a hike, visit museums (doesn't even have to be medieval-oriented), watch a musical or go see a show.
Most towns have some kind of landmark that you can visit; I just visited a 150 years old copper mine the other day and it rekindled a certain attraction for caves and dungeons that I had lost.
Basically give your brain some food, inspiration will follow...
I wanna play in a viscous game too...Sorry, I meant vicious.
I understood that... but it felt like it would be a better world if it had viscous games in it. *sigh*
Play a few one-shot games. Maybe run We Be Goblins one week. Or try a one-shot game of a completely different game. Maybe something rules-light, like a Storyteller game, or a session of Fiasco. Heck, you could pull out a board game like Kill Dr. Lucky, or Illuminati.
Good luck!
I understood that... but it felt like it would be a better world if it had viscous games in it. *sigh*I wanna play in a viscous game too...Sorry, I meant vicious.
Mud wrestling?
GMing and gaming has begun to feel more like work than fun.
Looking for suggestions for recharging the GM and RPG batteries which are both on empty.
Where do you look for inspiration and mojo?
Thanks,
kid america
I'm actually going through this. Well, coming out of it. I agree with what the others are saying; go do something else for a bit. Try a different game, or even just give games in general a break for a while.
Especially if you're GM most of the time, take a break and try being just a player, or just do something else altogether. I
s it possible you need a new group to play with? Sometimes the people you play with can make a game quite taxing, and accelerate burnout. This has happened to me a few times over the years.
Sounds like your brain just needs a rest. Take some time away from GM'ing, then maybe toy with some media close to the context of your game, such as video games or movies taking place in similar settings, see if that doesn't give you any spark.
I asked about your group, because I've had games where the game itself was ok, but the group became too much trouble to run a game for. I've had some straight-up bad groups, which usually either fly-right or just implode.
But specifically, I've had a group that all got along really well, were generally pretty positive-thinking players who had fun, but at the same time, it was like wrangling cats. One player would be playing with their phone the entire time, doing as little in-game as possible. Another player always had a new gadget, game, etc he just had to bring to gaming(like Show and Tell in kindergarten) and would mess with it the entire night. 2 other players were absorbed in side conversations at every turn. And yet another player would wait until their turn to even begin thinking about what action to take, and spend 15 minutes at a time just moving and attacking.
This entire group got along great, very friendly, but running a game for them was a trial in patience I could not pass. I had to dump the game due to some real-life things taking priority, but I secretly celebrated not having to run that game anymore. It completely burnt me out. I almost quit gaming entirely.
|
I thinking being a middle age gamer and GM now, shorter adventures that cover 5 levels is the way to go versus trying to run long campaign that last from 1st into the 15-20 level range.
I sympathize with you KA. I would dump PF for awhile (if not forever) due to the sheer volume of silly numbers you need to keep track of at mid to high level. The game is not GM friendly.
I was/still am in your boat actually. Ran a very long D&D campaign that got transfered to 3.5 and then PF. I have to say - for all the advances made after 3rd changes - it wasnt worth it. I run the game, my players love it but I dread it. Just drudgery. We had a pause and I held off on re-starting my game for a very long time. I just didn't want to do the work and the research to create the threats and encounters I needed.
I'm not a fan of the power level in PF, my players like the game but they think it gives a bit too much over 2nd and 1st ed. IDK - recently I have been running a horror game (Chill rpg) since we ended our last campaign and we are all having a blast (myself included).
Sometimes it comes down to the raw work you need to do to get the game going and to play on a regular basis. To me this incarnation of the game is very souless and bland, while piling on more and more numbers as the players level up. I mean I can run it, but is the issue do I want to?
We have played with a huge dry erase board (class room sized) with a full list of buffs and timers written on the board - the players were engaged for that big fight but I just looked at that wall (plus my notes I need to track the buffs the enemy is using) and I say to my self "this is what gaming has turned into" and hoping we could get through this grind in one session.
I have gotten burned out on other games in the past, and usually its for mechanical/system issues. In the game I ran before going full bore into 3.5/PF the issue was that the game was smaller, less defined and needed some work. I wish I would have put in that work back then instead of taking on 3rd ed and PF. Anyway - can't go back in time, just have to make sure I don't make the same mistake in the future.
We do run an alternating Arkham Horror board game night, which is a nice change for me.
I think changing up game systems (and expectations) has a helped considerably. I would like to run PF again in the future, but it will be my version, a version with changes that I like and one that works well for me as the DM.
I wish I could offer you something you could use to help you, because I really do get it - even if my reason may be different from yours.
I'm running the idea by the players of playing some non-Medieval/Pathfinder/D&D board games and card games at the next couple of game sessions.
Hopefully there is some interest.
Trying something different for a while is a great idea. It can really help to recharge your batteries. Definitely glad to hear it's not the group though, I had a nightmare group a little while back and they nearly soured me on gaming all together. Four players, and I managed to get a munchkin (in the loophole finding, power gaming sense of the term), a rules lawyer, and a guy who decided to play a busty lesbian sorceress and try to sleep with anything vaguely female... I had one great player, and I still feel bad about the fact that he lost out due to the others driving me away from the game. But, you do what you have to.
To add to what some of the other posters have been saying about alternative games, I've got a few suggestions.
Card Games: Try some deck builders. There's a huge range of them now beyond the classic Dominion. I highly recommend Ascension (Fantasy); Nightfall (modern horror); Penny Arcade: Gamers vs Evil & Rumble in R'lyeh (based on the webcomic); and the DC Comics Deck Building Game. Other card games worth a whirl are the Blood Bowl Team Manager game (only up to 4 players as far as I'm aware, unless the expansion allows more); Fluxx (quick, easy to learn but endless fun); and Gloom (story telling card game about making your "family" as miserable as possible and then killing them off. I favour the Cthulhu edition).
[/b]Board Games:[/b] Lately I've been really enjoying games that let you build the map as you play. I recommend checking out Betrayal and the House on the Hill (horror) and Level 7 (sci-fi/horror) as good examples of the genre. I think others have already mentioned Arkham Horror, but that's another good one. I'm also told that Mansions of Madness is good for a Cthulhu fix, but I've also heard mixed reports about setup time etc.
RPGs: Some of the really good indie RPGs have already been mentioned above. Dread and Don't Rest Your Head have horror covered pretty well. Dogs in the Vineyard is an odd one, but still good. Fate Core can let you do pretty much whatever you want with very little fuss, or if you want an even sleeker version, check out Fate Accelerated Edition. One that I would definitely add to the list is Hollowpoint. Made by the same guys who created the Diaspora setting for Fate, it uses a new dice pool system based on building sets of dice, and is designed with a focus on action packed and cinematic storytelling (think movies like Reservoir Dogs, and comics like 100 Bullets). It plays out more as a case of "group vs. situation" rather than "group vs. army of mooks", and is very easy to learn and setup (after reading the book, prep time for a game is no more than an hour or two). It really lends itself to one-shots and short campaigns.